GameCritics.com Podcast Episode 13: Killzone 2, Game Review Mulligans and Erotic Games

I'm listening to the podcast and wanted to just make a comment about the PS3's controller and the dead space in Killzone. I have Call of Duty 4 for the PS3, and that game does not have a dead zone in the controls. I have no problem whats so ever playing it. Same with Resistance. So I would say the controls are unique to Killzone and not an issue with the controller.

I have to disagree with the 98% thumbs up for the BSG finale-I'd give about an 75% thumbs up-HUGE plot hole at the end.

I respectfully disagree with you guys on your Killzone point of view. It sounds like you guys are hatting on the game. "I don't like the sound, its too loud", "The colours are too grey", "Its not Halo"... Come on. Its a good game especialy for a FPS on console. If this game was on PC it would be one of the best FPS ever made.

Richard -- I have no idea how to make spoiler tags on here, but what huge plot hole are you referring to?

It isn't possible for me to describe it without giving something away, and I don't want to raise anyone's ire so quickly after joining the staff :)

Yeah, I hear ya, David. When we got done taping, I was a little upset because I felt like I'd spent the entire time bitching about the game when that wasn't my intention.

I don't have any major problems with KZ2. I think the controls feel off (at least at first--then I got used to them) and the grey dystopian thing is kinda played out, but it's a solid first person shooter. I wouldn't go as far as praising it as one of the best FPS games ever made, but I think it's generally a good game despite the fact that it seems like I spend more time bitching about what's wrong with it than appreciating what it does well.

Don't worry if you missed Ninja Golf when it first came out, I think everyone did. The first time I played the game was about 6 or 7 years ago. A friend of mine had bought a copy and we probably spent a good hour playing. Couldn't believe we would ever put that much time in on an Atari cartridge.

No it wouldn't be. The FPS market on the PC is so saturated that a game has to come up with something truly special to set itself apart. And as far as I can tell KZ2 is a heavily scripted, somewhat derivative shooter about space marines fighting british space nazis. On the PC I would go for crysis warhead instead. Crysis might not be the most inventive shooter of all time but at least it's not heavily scripted, undeniably pretty and the color palette consists of more than grey and brown. And red of course for the glowing Jin-Roh-style eyes.

Serendipity!

At work today one of my co-workers was waxing poetic about the Aqua Teen Hunger Force game released for the PS2 and, apparently, it is, either by accident or intention, a spiritual successor to Ninja Golf.

From his description, it was very nearly the same game. You play as Master Shake on a golf course. You hit your ball, and then fight your way through hordes of enemies to get to where it landed to hit it again.

Firstly, I can't remember who it was, but someone near the beginning of the killzone 2 discussion made a load of very valid criticisms of the game, pretty much dismissing out of hand, and then said that the lack of co-op was a huge dissapointment. If the game is fundamentaly crap, then why do you want a co op mode?

Secondly, am I the only one who doesn't find the graphics impressive in any way? I'm not talking about the art style. I find the colours look a bit weak and washed out, not in a dark gritty way, just weak. It could be because I only played the demo, but people were impressed with the demo's graphics too.

Because co-op is like bacon... whatever you add it to becomes automatically better. ; )

Though the critics bring up a lot of good points. I get this underlying feeling that it may just be too realistic for you. As an example, the entire bridge situation, its the grunts who usually capture the foreground before the tanks come in to wipe out everything, especially with bridges. The foot soldier is the backbone of the army and always will be. Plus it wasn't even a tank, it was an APC. It may seem logical to throw tanks around willy-nilly but in reality, the soldiers need to be infront of the tank to support the tank.

I also find issue with people saying its filled with cursing and I have two questions for that.
-What would you be saying as you watched men get ripped apart by bullets? "OH dear me, that seems awfully horrible, I should probably help them."
-I'm sorry, I didn't know that they were all MIT graduates and were as intelligent as Einstein. That is the common man, and as dull as some people find that, the common man makes the army supported by those common men. Its ridiculously annoying when people expect every soldier to be Gordan Freeman.

My last rebuttal is look beyond the damn first thought of a futuristic World War II and you'll see the damn scariest realization that could be our Future....or something similar...I know I sound like a fanboy but I'm a fan of the original, so yes, I am a fanboy.

Nice way to steal Yahtzee's initial thoughts about not giving a crap about Killzone 2. When ya got something new, please comment!